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“Ukraine is fighting for us”

“Ukraine is fighting for us”

On March 30, 2015 the Atlantic Council (an international think tank) in Washington, D.C. held a special briefing with General Wesley K. Clark (Ret.), the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. After listening online to his live presentation, I understood that Ukraine had a chance in getting much needed military support as long as it had people like General Clark on its side.

The Atlantic Council reported that General Clark along with other few US former military officials met with senior civilian and military officials, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, and Ukrainian ministers, parliamentarians, and leaders at all levels of the military, both in Kyiv and in the operational area. The Ex-NATO Chief shared his views and recommendations on how to help Ukraine based on his expertise and conclusions after meeting with Ukrainian officials.  

General Clark predicts that within a short period of time, Ukraine will meet a new military offensive from Russia and with the stronger force this time. This attack might even happen before May 8th, the VE Day. Ukraine and Russian celebrate the Victory Day on May 9th and it is a national holiday in both countries. Clark highlighted the four phases of Russian war in Ukraine: 1) terrorism, 2) irregular forces, 3) “peacekeeping forces”, and 4) de-escalation. Currently, there are 9,000 Russian troops in the East of Ukraine and thousands more are stationed outside of the Ukraine-Russian border. There are three avenues that Putin uses to defend Ukraine: 1) political, 2) economic, 3) military. And he could win last two. In a broader picture, Putin’s goal is more than just to create crisis in Ukraine; he is set to drive the permanent wedges between NATO, USA and Eastern Europe.

General Clark made an interesting observation. When many praised economic sanctions as the best tool to deter Russia, Clark pointed that they did not bite Putin strong. He was doing just fine, and in some ways, even better because sanctions regime played in his hand by bringing Russian oligarchs and banks closer to him as they needed his assistance.  We should remember that economic sanctions are a two-way street. They also hurt the Western countries; therefore there is a limit to which they can push Putin economically. However, this does not mean that sanctions should not be used against Russian. The West needs a balanced approach against Putin, including immediate military assistant for Ukraine. “If we wait much longer or let Ukraine fall”, as General says, “we will not start at fresh, but we would find ourselves in a deep-deep hole, which will be much harder to fix.”

That is why Ukraine needs foreign investments. Investors should not be discouraged from bringing their capital into Ukraine. As General Clark stated, he believes in Ukraine and its future.  George Soros had similar views, when March 30, 2015 he announced that he was ready to invest in Ukraine $1 billion if Western countries help private investment there. It was not the first time that Mr. Soros urged the West to provide financial assistant to Ukraine to withstand Russian aggression. A couple of months back, he called for a financial aid to Ukraine in the amount of $50 billion.

How can the U.S. help Ukraine? The U.S. should prepare a military package which should include javelin missiles, long-range intelligence, and counter UAV capacity, pointed Ex-NATO Chief. The U.S. should have a lethal package ready and in case of warning signs from Russia, Washington should be ready to send it to Ukraine. So far, U.S. has given Ukraine a strong verbal support but not sufficient military assistance, not even the “non-lethal stuff”. I praise General Clark for making it clear to the audience at the Atlantic Council, and all who watched his speech online that Ukrainian soldiers are well-educated, organized and capable of learning quickly Western modern equipment.

I believe everyone will agree with this statement that how the U.S. responds to the war in Ukraine, it will determine its future relations with Europe, Russia and the rest of the world. I think, at this point, everyone understands that Ukrainians are fighting for the Western civilization, human rights, and Western values. To prevent successful Russian military operation in Ukraine, the U.S. should provide assistance to Ukraine now, it is not provocative, it is to prevent Russian military offensive. 

Sources:

Clark, Wesley K. "Briefing from Ukraine’s Front Lines." Atlantic Council, 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/articles/briefing-from-ukraine-s-front-lines

"Soros Says Ready to Invest $1 Billion in Ukraine If West Helps." Reuters, 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-ukraine-crisis-soros-idUSKBN0MQ0FP20150330